On Wednesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it has removed three senior officials at the Phoenix VA Health Care System. The move follows an announcement in March in which VA proposed the removal of Lance Robinson, the facility’s Associate Director; Brad Curry, Chief of Health Administration Service; and Dr. Darren Deering, Chief of Staff.
In addition to other causes, the three were removed for negligent performance of duties and failure to provide effective oversight for not ensuring Veterans were either properly scheduled for appointments or placed on an appropriate wait list.
All three employees can appeal the removal decision, should they wish to exercise that right. As General Schedule employees, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Curry have 30 days from the effective date of their removal to file an appeal with the Merit Systems Protection Board. As a Title 38 employee, Dr. Deering has the right to appeal his removal through VA’s administrative grievance process. He will have 15 days from the date of delivery of the decision to formally grieve the decision to the Secretary of VA.
The employees will not be paid during the appeals process should they exercise that right.